Finally facing justice

It took Melissa Hutton 14 years to write a letter to the man that pointed a gun to her head during an armed hold up at the bank she worked at.

After years of dealing with feelings of anger and isolation caused by those moments where Melissa thought she would suffer "death through the barrel of a gun", she wrote to the man that changed her life - her perpetrator.

While it's unlikely he will read the letter, Melissa hopes the impact of her words might strike a chord with other offenders who have changed the lives of other victims of crime.

"You changed my whole view of the world forever," she wrote, "I lost years of my life. I prayed for the world would stop. The world kept spinning and while other lives thrived, mine stood still.

"Although I cannot remember your face you left me with an image I will never forget."

Melissa is one of a number of victims of who have taken part in a program that brings them face to face with prison inmates in an effort to generate closure by giving a voice back to victims.

The Sycamore Tree project, which has had success around the world, is being trialled in Queensland prisons - and so far it's having remarkable results.

Offenders are invited to explore ways of making restitution for the harm caused by their criminal behaviour and victims are given the opportunity to consider ways in which they can take control of their lives and begin their journey toward healing and restoration.

David Way is the Executive Director of Prison Fellowship Queensland, which has run the Sycamore Tree Project in three of the state's prisons.

David says the current style of 'colonial' justice is retributive and often victims don't get a chance to have their say and are left in the cold.

"What we've found is that often prisoners don't know what the effects of crime really are to a person.

So when a person is sentenced, they are expected to pay a debt to the state, but [for victims of crime] the debt is personal," he says.

David says the voluntary program gives prisoners a growing empathy they have never felt before towards people who have been directly impacted by their crimes.

The offender's perspective

Inmates and victims of crime must volunteer to be part of the project, which David says prepares them for the emotional journey they go on over the 8 week period.

"They come ready prepared in some way; you're not going to get the [victims] that aren't ready," he says, "and [for the prisoners] they want something different; they want to hear from victims; they have heard of the benefits of the program and the changes they've heard about in other prisoners.

"We're getting letters from the other prisons that are not running the program, because the prisoners are hearing about it," David says.

Prisoner 'X', who due to privacy reasons could not be named, says the project changed his thinking.

At a recent graduation ceremony at the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, Prisoner 'X' says it allowed him to see all sides of the impact of his crime.

Ross Thompson is General Manager of the Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group.

His son, Michael, was murdered in 2005.

Ross has participated in all three Sycamore Tree Projects completed in Queensland.

He says the latest one, at the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, 'cracked him open'.

"I know I've been very strong for my family and for the public.

"But this program this time around became very personal to me," he says.

Ross says it was his journey this time.

He says the Sycamore Tree Project put him in places he thought he would never have to go leading him to seek help for the first time.

Ross is planning to take part in the program again in future.

"If they ask me, I'll be back - for sure," he says.

The Program

Victims and offenders meet for eight 2 hour sessions, usually over a period of 8 weeks.

David Way says the project is based on the biblical story of Zacchaeus and the Sycamore Tree exploring the concepts of responsibility, confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation in the context of crime and justice.

A facilitator leads the group through the topics leading naturally to a time in which both victims and offenders can share letters and covenants which express how they feel and how they wish to move forward.

In a unique upshot for the project, District Court Judge David Searles witnessed the results of the prison based program.

Justice Searles, who attended the Sycamore Tree Project graduation ceremony in Gatton, says it made a deep impression.

"Through the eyes of a judge, we see the offenders when they appear in court for sentence.

We see the victims sitting in the back of the court and read - sometimes - their victim impact statements.

But we never see anything beyond that and today has been an absolute eye opener," he says.

Justice Searles says to see the two groups come together shows the Sycamore Tree Project has been a very worthwhile program.

Political interest

Michael Crandon is the MP for Coomera.

He is also a passionate supporter of The Sycamore Tree Project and its focus on restorative justice.

"We have to find other ways of changing the world and this is one of those ways.

"It's for society that we need this type of program and I'm a hundred percent behind it," he says.

Mr Crandon hopes if it cuts rates of recidivism, it will lead to cost savings across the corrections system.

"We are going to need to put some seed money into this type of program and start measuring the results so we are comfortable where they are going and move forward from there," he says.

Hear more about how the project works in Queensland by clicking on the audio to the right.